Washed away: Japanese teacher lives to recall tsunami

Photo By Sgt. Cody Thompson | A school in Matsushima, Japan, that was struck by the Great East Japan Earthquake, is being cleaned by U.S. soldiers as part of Operation Field Day, April 15. The U.S. military’s role is to assist and augment the efforts and capabilities of the Japanese government by cleaning schools, providing showers and kerosene, handing out backpacks and playing music for displaced citizens.  

MATSUSHIMA, MIYAGI, MIYAGI, JAPAN

04.16.2011

Story by Spc. Cody Thompson 

U.S. Army Japan

CAMP SENDAI, Japan— Fire trucks raced down the street as sirens blared and fire men shouted “the tsunami is coming, the tsunami is coming,” Takayuki Watabe, the chief curriculum coordinator at a school in Matsushima, Japan, recalls the day the Great East Japan Earthquake struck the area, March 11.

“As they were driving the tsunami was following right behind them,” Watabe said. “They arrived at the school and made it upstairs before the tsunami struck, but unfortunately some of the elderly stayed in their homes and didn’t make it.”

The children and teachers, who were at school at the time, were safe from the wave that was rushing toward them at an estimated speed of approximately 200 mph.

“We were worried because if the water levels had risen anymore it would have flooded the second floor,” Watabe explains. “We pushed kids back from the windows, but a few were still able to see their houses wash away.”

After all of the lights and ways to communicate with the outside world went dead, the children and teachers had to wait a few days in the damp, cold conditions before some of the parents arrived.

“Once the children saw a few of the parents march across the field to the school, their morale raised and they began to encourage each other,” Watabe said. “A few kids lost parents and grandparents, but the teachers went to the shelter with them and still gave classes in the new location.”

Since the events ravaged the Tohoku and Kanto regions of Japan, the U.S. military has provided assistance by cleaning-up a few of the local schools, which includes the Matsushima school.

“We just want to help,” Maj. Gen. Michael T. Harrison, the commanding general for U.S. Army Japan and I-Corps (FORWARD), said.

The U.S. Military’s role is to assist and augment the efforts and capabilities of the Japanese government by cleaning schools, providing showers and kerosene, handing out backpacks and playing music for displaced citizens.

Watabe sees hope for the children because of the role the joint efforts of the U.S. and Japanese military.

“There were 400 people huddled together that night offering encouragement to each other,” Watabe said. “Thank you for helping to clean the schools so that eventually the children can come back.”

• Date Taken: 04.16.2011
• Date Posted: 04.16.2011 21:14
• Story ID: 68861
• Location: MATSUSHIMA, MIYAGI, MIYAGI, JP